CLAREMONT, Calif.
The rain and overcast skies proved to be a sort of foreshadowing for what lie ahead for the Whitman Blues on Thursday at the NCAA doubles and singles championships in Claremont, California. In singles, Zach Hewlin was eliminated in straight sets in the middle of the day, and then Thursday evening, Hewlin and his doubles partner Robert Carter fell as well to put an early end to their tournament stay.
Singles Action: Hewlin (Whitman) vs. Urken (Bowdoin)
Hewlin opened up the day in a contest against Grant Urken, a junior at Bowdoin College, whose team just a day ago fell in the NCAA Division III Men's Tennis championships to Middlebury College, who also defeated Whitman in route to the championship.
To make matters more interesting, Hewlin and Urken have familiarity with each other, as earlier this year, when the Blues and Polar Bears met in California back in March, Zach and Grant were matched against each other on the No. 1 court in singles play. In that contest, Hewlin came out on top in a hard-fought match, winning 7-6, 6-2.
Today, however, would prove to be a different day, as the first set would provide Urken with the momentum he would need to eliminate Hewlin from the tournament, winning in straight sets 2-6, 2-3.
The two showed they were evenly matched in the early going, as it was tied 2-2 after four games with both men holding serve. In the fifth game, that would eventually change as Hewlin would drop the game and go down break, and simply could not regain any momentum afterward. Urken would go on to win the next three games as well, winning the first set 6-2.
"It was a fun day of tennis for the guys" said head coach Jeff Northam. "There were some really tough draws. Zach drew the #1 from Bowdoin, who is No. 2 in the nation."
Doubles: Hewlin/Carter (Whitman) vs. Rubinstein/Spaulding (Emory)
Without more than a couple of hours to regroup after his singles competition, Hewlin and his doubles partner Robert Carter were under way about 5 p.m. pacific time, playing Scott Rubinstein and James Spaulding, the top doubles team from Emory College. Ironically, Emory, who was ranked No. 3 in the nation entering the NCAA Tennis championships, was eliminated by Middlebury in the team championships earlier in the week.
The quality of the match did not disappoint, as it was apparent that it was going to be a tough match from the start. Hewlin and Carter opened up looking to be on top of their games, as they opened with the serve and swept the first game to go up early 1-0.
Both teams held serve through the first six games, as it was 3-3 before Rubenstein and Spaulding finally broke through. The Emory duo would sweep the seventh game of the set to go up 3-4, and the momentum of the match was turned.
The two teams would trade the next two games, but Emory would win the deciding game by sweeping while holding serve, and won the first set 6-4.
In the second set, Whitman went down break in losing the third game, and trailing 1-2. Emory would again capitalize, using a combination of three aces in the second set to take the 5-1 lead. Carter would make a nice play at the net to help the Blues steal a game and make it 2-5, but Emory responded by winning the next game, and putting the Blues away 6-2.
"What a great career for Zach and Bobby, really all of the seniors" said Northam. "I'm incredibly proud of all they have done and how they represented Whitman. "[It is an…] entire group of really classy guys!"
